SUCCESS BUILT ON LIMESTONE
SUCCESS BUILT ON LIMESTONE
Pennsylvania-based York Ag is a holistic animal feed ingredients supplier. Today, the company offers a range of products that help meet the nutritional needs of the animal production industry. But it began back in 1988 with limestone.
Founders Dale Anderson and Arthur McAlister were rooted in the regional limestone industry. In the mid-1980s, they saw an opportunity in the fast-growing egg laying business, an industry that traditionally relied on oyster shells to provide the calcium that chickens need to form egg shells and maintain healthy bone structure. The supply of oyster shells was limited, however, and unable to keep up with quickly growing demand.
Sensing an opportunity, Anderson and McAlister set out to show that limestone chips were a viable replacement for oyster shells – and the company’s first proprietary ingredient was born: YORK CALCIUM CHIPS®. From the beginning, these limestone chips have been supplied from Winchester, VA. Since 2008, when Carmeuse purchased the operation, the two companies have been working together to meet the calcium needs of the egg-laying and other poultry and livestock industries.
MAINTAINING RELIABLE SUPPLY
MAINTAINING RELIABLE SUPPLY
When supplying animal feed ingredients, reliability is key, explains Dustin Dreyfuss, Director of Operations at York Ag: “Animals do not stop eating because the quarry is undergoing maintenance or because our offices are closed for a holiday.”
With this in mind, the Winchester plant has moved to a preventative maintenance program, which has successfully shortened the duration of supply interruptions. “During the past few years, we have seen measurable improvement in the length of time it takes to get the plant up-and-running following an unexpected repair. In the past, downtime could last a couple of days. With the new strategy, breaks may last as little as a couple of hours,” Dreyfuss continues.
The Winchester plant has also optimized its spare parts inventory to ensure the necessary components are on hand to make repairs and get the plant up and running again in as short a time as possible.
BRINGING TRANSPARENCY TO LOADING OPERATIONS
BRINGING TRANSPARENCY TO LOADING OPERATIONS
To streamline loading operations, Carmeuse uses a digital scheduling system. The system allocates a dedicated loading time to each truck, helping to control the amount of traffic onsite, avoid long wait times and ensure the right product is available.
More recently, Carmeuse has provided York Ag with advanced access to the system, which allows the company to monitor loading operations for missed delivery slots. “We can then investigate what has happened to that driver – for example if they are stuck in traffic or broken down – and when they expect to arrive for loading. We pass that information on to Carmeuse, who can load around it to minimize disruption,” explains Dreyfuss.
COMMUNICATION, COMMUNICATION, COMMUNICATION
COMMUNICATION, COMMUNICATION, COMMUNICATION
At the heart of these improvements is communication. “We consider ourselves to be partners with Carmeuse,” says Dreyfuss, “and at the heart of any successful partnership is communication. The more we talk and understand each other, the more we can help each other improve.”
Moving forward, York Ag is “optimistic about the future,” concludes Dreyfuss. “Limestone is what we were founded on and is still our most important product. We are excited to work together with the limestone experts at Carmeuse to capture even more value for our customers and potentially expand into new regional markets.”
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